Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B
Russia's heavy stealth flying-wing combat drone, built as a Su-57 "loyal wingman." Its defining moment was a humiliation: in October 2024 a Russian fighter shot down its own out-of-control Okhotnik over Ukraine — handing Kyiv the wreckage, Western chips inside and all.
Russia's heavy, jet-powered, tailless flying-wing stealth combat drone — fighter-sized, with internal weapons bays — built as a "loyal wingman" for the Su-57. Its concept is the same manned-unmanned teaming everyone is chasing; its reality is a program defined by a self-inflicted humiliation, when a Russian fighter shot down its own Okhotnik over Ukraine and handed Kyiv the wreckage.
Overview
The S-70 Okhotnik-B (Охотник, "Hunter") is a heavy stealth uncrewed combat aircraft (UCAV) — a tailless flying wing in the ~20-tonne class with internal weapons bays, one of the largest combat drones of its type. Developed by Sukhoi (with MiG, under United Aircraft Corporation/Rostec) and derived from the cancelled Mikoyan Skat using Su-57 technology, it is conceived as a Su-57 "loyal wingman": flying into contested airspace ahead of the crewed jet to scout, designate targets and deliver internally-carried munitions. It is Russia's entry in the collaborative-combat-aircraft race, and the counterpart to America's Fury and Valkyrie, China's GJ-11 and Russia's own simpler Orion. The essential caveat up front: for all its ambition, the Okhotnik remains a handful of prototypes that is not in serial production, and its advertised stealth and AI autonomy have been publicly undercut — most damningly by the loss of one over Ukraine.
Development
The Okhotnik program traces to 2011-2012, and the first prototype made its maiden flight on 3 August 2019 — a short hop of about 20 minutes, against an advertised 24-hour endurance. It is built at the Novosibirsk aircraft plant (NAPO/Chkalov), and in 2019 Russia demonstrated more than 30 minutes of autonomous teaming between an Okhotnik and a Su-57. Serial production has slipped repeatedly — promised for 2023, then 2024, then 2025 — and as of mid-2026 there is no open-source confirmation of serial production or delivery to the Russian Aerospace Forces, with roughly four prototypes believed to exist.
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